Trafcom News

In case you missed it

Before the year is out, be sure to check out the "Share 2007" holiday greeting from Mitch Joel and the team at Twist Image in Montreal. It's an eclectic and very well executed collection of some of the best videos of the year.

Ze Frank is back!

I'm taking a sick day today, which means I'm still working, but I'm wearing sweats instead of real clothes.

Thank goodness there's a ray of brightness, however, amid the tea cups and Kleenex. Ze Frank is back! Bless  you, BL Ochman, for alerting us.

If you want to experience excellent writing, brilliant pacing, and the smart use of a single camera for video, watch the master in action.

Chris Brogan on the right tool for the job

Here's a nice post from Chris Brogan on the right tool for the job: text, audio or video. As usual, Chris communicates clearly as he shares information and gives us food for thought. If you read Chris regularly, you'll recognize this M.O.

Audio is not the poor cousin of video

How do you figure out if audio or video is the preferred medium for your message? Listen to the Trafcom News Podcast Show 55, an interview with audio artist Victoria Fenner to find out! In this 22-minute podcast, Victoria and I discuss the intrinsic value of audio as a communications tool.

On the Trafcom News Podcast blog, you can download the podcast, see the full shownotes and subscribe so that you won't miss a future episode.

Who says size doesn’t matter?

Red Herring reports on non-geeky eyewear that offers users a “large-screen view of video content meant for the size-challenged screens on portable devices.”

Three capital funders gave MicroOptical, a start-up based in Massachusetts, $11.5 million to bridge the gap between computer technology and stylish eyewear.

I’m curious to see how far this goes. My only fear is that people (looking fabulous, no doubt) will be driving their cars while watching videos. Egads.

Hat tip to Dave Williams.

UPDATE: I’ve seen a few stories floating around today about Apple’s intentions to distribute Hollywood movies for $9.99 via iTunes.

One big objection? The small screens typical of portable players.

Perhaps if these special specs catch on, we’ll all be enjoying movies with them. Who knows? We could also see corporations purchasing the glasses in quantity for employee training. No more squinting at a tiny screen.

Carleton U offers chemistry on demand

Back in my student days, if you missed a class you’d have to scurry around to find a classmate with legible handwriting who took reasonably good notes (not an easy task). And if you were really lucky, the prof had given handouts, which you could photocopy – if you could find a working copier.

When my own kids start university in the next couple of years, I wonder if they’ll ever know the panic of missing a critical lecture.

As I’ve been discussing in my own podcasts, the podcast medium is proving to be ideal for education, and universities are certainly catching on to this quickly. Some are moving right ahead to video on demand.

Today's Globe and Mail ran a story about
Carleton University’s use of video-on-demand content via RSS enclosures. (Read the Globe article ASAP; I’m not sure how long it’s available online for free.) The school, in Ottawa, Ontario, is experimenting by offering Chemistry 101 lectures by Professor Robert Burk.

In case you’re wondering, the students are not skipping class. They’re using the video casts as a way to review and reinforce the material.

How cool is that?